Parliament approves motion to promote local music: MBC to play 70% Malawi music

The Malawi National Assembly has passed an Act requiring all local broadcasting houses play 70 percent of local music and 30 percent foreign music.

MP Navicha: Moved the motion
MP Navicha: Moved the motion

The House on Thursday agreed to the motion moved by  Mary Navicha member for Thyolo Thava to empower domestic music  and was supported by MP for Blantyre City South Constituency Allan Ngumuya.

The motion found its way came back again in the House through  Navicha after it was turned back last week Thursday when Ngumuya who drafted it was denied to present the motion in the House because he is an interested party as he is  also a musician.

“We need to promote our Malawian music and support our local musicians,” stressed Navicha when presenting the motion in the House.

“Our artists are really suffering yet they put much effort to produce their art but sadly at the end they get nothing,” she observed when speaking in an interview with Nyasa Times.

Ngumuya said music career was not rewarding to talented Malawians, saying he is a living example with “15 albums to my credit , but with little money in the bank.”

The Ministry of Civic Education and Culture will take responsibility of ensuring that the agreed Act becomes effective policy and is enforced.

Patricia Kaliati, Minister of Civic Education and Culture, who will be responsible for implementation of the Policy said this motion is a welcome idea and it shows that “our members of parliament are really passionate with skills that our artists are having and how
they are also promoting the economy of the country” by imparting such skills to youth and create employment.

She said what remains is a policy to give her Ministry a direction that guide how it will follow up the airplay of 70 percent local music and 30 percent foreign music.

However, she noted that the only challenge now is the willingness of local broadcasting houses to commit themselves to pay royalties to artists.

She said a lot of artists die poor because of this problem and that currently both private and public broadcasting houses “owe artists over K120 million.”

But she expressed optimism that this motion will empower the ministry to force the broadcasting houses pay royalties to the artists even to beneficiaries (bereaved families of artists).

“It is really pathetic from what I have heard that some of them [artists] have passed on without getting their royalty and they ended up being beggars yet they have their royalties from different radio stations. But this is a good motion which we have just passed in
parliament. What we are looking forward is to start implementing because it is now an Act as we are speaking” she said

Kaliati has emphasised that her ministry will work with Copyright Society of Malawi (CoSoMa) on this Act pushing broadcasting houses to start paying the royalties owed to artists.

And warned that  “If they don’t want then we will sue them.”

She also spoke at length that this policy will assist the implementation of the recently passed copyright law in fighting piracy which has greatly choked the music industry in the country.

Dowa West MP Kusamba Dzonzi  told parliament that the motion was commendable.

“We seem to be finding things which are foreign more attractive and important than our own things. We need to start promoting our own culture,” said Dzonzi.

Chitipa South MP Werani Chilenga  suggested that the private radio stations should not be included calling for an amendment to isolate only the tax-funded national broadcaster MBC.

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Naluso
Naluso
7 years ago

It’s a welcome idea, local musicians need to benefit from their talent. They,however, need to improve on quality & originality. Many of the malawian musicians want to be iyanyas,davidos, p-squares etc. Promote malawian music identity plz.

Ntopijo
7 years ago

This is a very welcome development. Indeed radio stations in Malawi have this insatiable appetite for foreign music. For example there is one presenter at UFULU radio called NELSON CHIGWENEMBE who is fond of promoting foreign music at the expense of our local music. He has a 2 hours programme called ZAMBIA CHABE in which he plays exclusive Zambian hits. How sad is this. As this is not enough, he has another programme called SUNGULA jive where he plays exclusive Zimbabwean music. How silly can one go? The sad thing is that while Malawian stations are promoting foreign music, if… Read more »

shadow commander @html
shadow commander @html
7 years ago

music is a talent and also an occupation, someone has to work hard in their music to bring food on the table. I hope this will make some good change to some serious musicians.

2019Boma
2019Boma
7 years ago

did you consult them radios on why they don’t play the local tunes? you’ll sue them if they don’t comply, really? on that I think you’ll even choose which local beats to play. On the other hand let our artist do good music not just copies of others, maybe that’s why the DJs just opt to play the originals.

Complex
7 years ago

Nyimbo zake ziti? Nyimbo zobifana okhaokha, komanso Nyimbo milandu yokhayokha monga kutukwana,mijedo nde tizitaya nthawi ndi zimezo? Basi tizimvera short Wave, no problem. Radio Zimbabwe, etc umadziwa kale.

nyapapi
nyapapi
7 years ago

France just in acted there’s ,stations to play 60% French language songs.mukudandawula chani do get ur foreign songs via downloads and pump up ur cars

cargo rider(finale wa kabaza)

being a music artist is not a career so please do not force people to earn you a living, gwirani ntchito ngati mukufuna ndalama, by the way no one forces you to do music, be realistic, mmalo mokambirana za ulimi othilira(massive irrigation schemes) or empowering local commercial fammers to boost their produce you are busy promoting lazy people to earn money by force, pathetic government and citizens!!!

Inka
Inka
7 years ago

Big up Chilenga. You can not force a private business how they should be running it. This is a liberalised economy. Station have different audiences as per their mandates as private businesses

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